Ready-made dummy tooth



June 1 1926.

1,586,912 H. E. MURPHY READY MADE DUMMY TOOTH Filed Dec. 16, 1924INVENTOR. #4014) If IVURPHY ,3? )g ATTORNEYS.

Patent-ed June 1, 1926,

unrrno stares tseaerz HARVEY E. MURPHY, OF MEDFORD, OREGON.

READY-MADE DUMMY TOOTH.

Application filed December 16, 1924. Serial No. 756,340.

The present invention relates to improvements in artificial teeth andhas particular reference to a ready-made dummy tooth to be used as abridge between two abutting I or adjacent teeth. a

It is particularly proposed in the present invention to allow bridgework to be done more economically, more sanitary and to allow ready-madedummy teeth to be pre- 10 pared in such a manner that they do notrequire any grinding or shaping on the part of the individual dentist sothat the highly glazed surface given to the tooth by the manufacturer ismaintained.

It is further proposed in the present invention to provide means wherebya dummy tooth may be readily anchored or secured to adjacent teethwithout exposure to view of the gold or metal used as anchoring means. 2In one form of my invention the metal will appear on the occlusal faceof the tooth while in another modification even the occlusal face willbe made of porcelain so that the tooth practically defies detection.

Further objects and advantages of my invention will appear as thespecification proceeds.

The preferred forms of my invention are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawing, 30 in which- Figure 1 shows a longitudinal vertical sectionthrough my dummy tooth taken along line I-I of Figure 2.

Figure 2 an occlusal view of the tooth.

Figure 3 a transverse section taken along line III-III of Figure 2.

Figure 4 a transverse section similar to that of Figure 8 but of aslightly modified form.

Figure 5 a sectional view showing the dummy tooth anchored to twoadjacent teeth, and

Figure 6 showing a similar assembly to that of Figure 5 in which amodified dummy tooth is used.

While I have shown only the preferred form of the invention, it shouldbe understood that various changes or modifications may be made withinthe scope of the claims hereto attached without departing from thespirit of the invention.

Externally the tooth 1 is formed substantially in imitation of the toothto be replaced and may present the general rounded surface shown inFigure 1, or the saddle shaped bottom 3 shown in Figure 4. The principalfeature of the tooth which, according to my invention is made in thefactory and highly finished, is the cavity or recess at formed in theocclusal face of the tooth 6 and extending into the same very deeply,the recess preferably being funnel shaped and presenting acurved bottom,as shown in the various views. In the wall 6 surrounding the recess twoopposing notches 7 and 8 are formed, the two notches pointing toward thetwo adjacent teeth. In this form the dummy tooth is preferably sold inthe market, it being the; intention that this simple form of tooth couldbe easily manufacturcd and sold in so many different shades and shapesthat the dentist could always find a tooth that would fit his case pwithout having to grind the surface and thereby destroying its finish.

The recess is provided to give anchorage to a gold casting 9 made toexactly fit in therecess and to present two branches 11 and 12 in andextending through the two notches so that they may be used as a meansfor securing the dummy tooth to the adjacent teeth 13 and 14L, or to oneof them, the latter teeth having preferably been previously providedwith small anchored gold fillings 16 to which the ends of the branches 4may be soldered.

This method of securing the dummy tooth to one or both of, the adjacentteeth allows the gold filling in the tooth to be hidden from view whenlooking at the tooth from the side, while the gold shows on the top orbottom face respectively. If it is desired to do still better work, theform shown in Figure 6 may be used, in which a preformed top 17 made ofporcelain is furnished by the manufacturer with the tooth and in whichthe gold casting 18, while prepared in a manner similar to that shown inFigure 5, does not fill the tooth to its Wall so that in most casespractically no gold Whatever is visible to the eye.

I claim:

In combination, a ready-nude dummy 10 tooth of porcelain formed with arecess in the occlusal face and with notches in the mesial and distalWalls of the recess, a casting formed to fit in the recess and to extendthrough the notches for connection to adjacent teeth but made to allowthe wall of the recess to extend above the same and a pie formedocclusal top of porcelain adapted for insertion in the recess above thecasting.

HARVEY E. MURPHY.

